Course Design in Physical Education Teacher Education: A Nonlinear Pedagogical Approach

The evolving demands of physical education in contemporary school contexts require future teachers to be equipped with pedagogical approaches that are responsive, adaptable, and grounded in the realities of dynamic learning environments. Nonlinear pedagogy, underpinned by an ecological dynamic’s rationale, offers a theoretically robust and practically flexible approach to teaching and facilitation of learning in physical education. Despite its growing presence in empirical research, nonlinear pedagogy remains underrepresented in formal course design within physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. The current paper addresses this gap by exploring the theoretical design of an exemplary PETE course grounded in nonlinear pedagogy. Using theoretical concept mapping as a design framework, we identified, aligned, and translated core constructs from nonlinear pedagogy into a coherent set of course design principles. The purpose of the paper is to articulate how this mapping process informed the development of the course and to present the key design features of the resulting nonlinear pedagogy-informed course. The current paper contribute to the growing body of work on nonlinear pedagogy by offering a theoretically grounded, systematically designed example of its application in PETE course development, presenting a replicable and adaptable course model for educators seeking to align with contemporary pedagogical approaches.